This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCD chapter.
During my freshman year, I moved into the dorms with one succulent. Now, a year and a half later, I have a total of twelve houseplants. I have loved adopting new types of plants into my little plant family, and the natural vibe that they bring to my bedroom is a mood-booster. Yet, I have had plenty of plant failures as well. While I am by no means an expert, this article will detail one of my first house plant disasters and what I learned from it.
My first big disaster was with a tiny African Violet that my mom gave me, which she grew by using a cutting from one of her plants. A few weeks after I got it, I noticed the leaves were mushy, and the entire plant had tiny white dots all over it. Worried, I showed my mom over Facetime. It turns out I had a powdery mildew problem. Because the plant was so small, and African Violets dislike getting their leaves wet, I did not know what to do. With some advice from my mom and a lot of googling, I established a routine. Powdery mildew thrives in warm, wet climates, so I stopped watering the plant as often, removed mildewy soil, and wiped the mildew off of the plant each day with a dry rag. As the plant got bigger, I also pruned diseased leaves to allow for healthy fresh growth. After about two months, the mildew was pretty much gone, and the plant grew much quicker. Today, it has filled its pot and bloomed multiple times (with little light purple flowers!)
Photo by Huy Phan from Unsplash
Unfortunately, my run-ins with powdery mildew did not stop there. I think almost all my plants have had it at least once — especially when it is humid — and the soil takes a long time to dry out. One of my favorite methods of helping prevent this is bottom watering. Bottom watering is when you fill up a container of water and put your plant into it so that the plant can soak up the water it needs without puddles of water forming at the top of the pot. I leave the plants sitting in the water until the topsoil looks a little damp, so I know that the plant has all the water it needs. The process takes about 10-30 minutes, depending on the size of the plant. It is crucial not to leave it sitting in the water for days upon days, as this may cause root rot. I have found that this method works best with plants in plastic containers since terracotta or ceramic can sometimes soak up a lot of water with this method. I still bottom water my plants in terracotta pots all the time, but sometimes they can get a little mildewy outside of the container if it is cold and the plants do not dry out quickly. If you start bottom watering your plants, make sure that you water from the top occasionally (about every 3 or 4 waterings) so that you can avoid unwanted mineral build-up.
Photo by Alina Vilchenko from Pexels
In the end, my biggest tip to avoiding powdery mildew (and other plant mishaps) is to avoid over-watering. Of course, this depends on the type of plant that you have. Usually, plants are easy to revive if they are under-watered instead of over-watered, especially drought-resistant plants like cacti and succulents. If you make a mistake, do not worry too much. Learning to take care of plants is a long process, and it is essential to remember that no plant parent is perfect. With practice and a lot of research, you will get the hang of plant care in no time.
