How I Killed My Favorite Plant

Another one bites the dust. Find out how I killed my favorite plant. Also, find out the key factor you need to keep in mind so you don’t kill your favorite plant.

How I Killed My Favorite Plant

First of all, I have all the doodads and gizmos for my plants. A moisture meter, grow lights, cute pots with drainage holes. You’d think that I’d know exactly what my plants need for maximum health. But, there are still lots of things to learn when it comes to houseplant care!

The time? Summer. 

The plant? A good ol’ hearty pothos plant – easily the easiest plant to grow. 

Where? The sunniest spot in my home: My kitchen window sill. It’s truly a spot that gets a good and consistent amount of light throughout the duration of each day.

I used my trusty moisture meter to see how dry the soil of my beloved plant was. I like the top 2-3 inches of the soil to be dry to keep the gnats and other icky pests at bay.

If the meter told me the lower 3 inches of the soil were dry, I’d water the plant. Easy peasy, right? Well, there was one key factor I didn’t consider in my watering plan that I think DIRECTLY led to the death of my pothos plant that I should have considered.

The one key factor I should have considered for my plant

This summer was brutal. On top of that, I was even more committed to understanding how efficient my home was at cooling.

I purchased a couple of temperature and humidity readers and began to record daily readings. In this practice, I realized just how humid my home becomes during the summer!

As a result, I purchased this cute and efficient dehumidifier for my living room (and not my kitchen) to make the space feel more comfortable. Every day, I dumped tub after tub of water extracted from the air! I did not realize how humidity makes a space feel hotter even while the air conditioning is running.

Well, he’s my theory on how I killed my favorite plant: 

I overwatered it.

Moreover, I failed to factor how the air humidity helps to water my plants.

I realized this after I compared the fate of my pothos plant to that of my heartleaf philodendron. 

How I DIDN’T kill my heart leaf philodendron

If pothos plants are the easiest plants to grow, a heartleaf philodendron might come in second place! Like a pothos, it’s dark green, vines when it grows, and enjoys a similar amount of light to thrive.

Honestly, I forgot about my heartleaf philodendron that is also in my kitchen. It sits on the kitchen hutch, but it gets the same amount of sunlight as the pothos. 

I let it be without a ton of watering. When I did give it water, I used the bottom watering method. In total, I may have watered my philodendron about 3 times between June and September. By the way, I live in the southern part of the United States, notorious for long, scorching, and humid  summers. 

And guess what? IT THRIVED! Meanwhile, ol’ pothos DIED.

Tips to NOT to kill your favorite plant

All in all, here are my takeaways that may have saved my fav from its death.

• Measure your indoor humidity. I realized my home exceeded 55% humidity indoors! (Truly diabolical if you ask me.) Plants usually like humidity (because they are usually outside in those elements). With that much humidity, I don’t think I needed to water the plant so much.
• Don’t over rely on the moisture meter. It’s important to evaluate the plant’s overall environment. Don’t let only one component, like soil, tell you when to water.

In conclusion

Because of the humidity in the air, I didn’t need to water my plant as frequently despite the moisture meter! That’s why understanding overall plant health is so important in your home. Understanding the details of your space is crucial for creating the right circumstances for a plant to prosper.

It’s okay that my favorite plant died. I learned so much with my lovely pothos. I know how I killed my favorite plant. But, I can get another one and take what I learned to grow an even better version.

RIP

Sincerely,

Felicia.