A lot of the care required to keep a plant alive comes more or less from trial and error approach. Plants have amazing regenerative abilities, and you may be surprised to see a plant that looks beyond dead come back to life with amazing vigor, when you apply some quick CPR to revive it :). The two most basic conditions that you need to meet are watering and light. You can read more about them on the separate pages I made for them, but in general some careful observation can tell you if you are doing ok.
Watering and Light
Watch out how fast your plants leaves start to go limp when you stop watering it. Does it take a day or two, or a week? How quickly does the soil dry up, or does it remain soggy for a long time? Some careful observations in the begging will tell you how often and how much you need to water your plant so that the soil is not soggy, and your plant does’t reach the point when its leaves start getting limp. You can read more about watering requirements, and what to do if your plant is suffering from neglect in terms of watering here.
When it comes to light, too much or too little can be estimated by your plant’s leaves and growth habit. Lanky plants with long stems suggest not enough light, and short dense foliage with too small leaves for the type you are growing, or burns on the leaves, suggest that maybe the light levels are too high. Also when you move your plant to a higher light level, you need to do that gradually so that your plant can get acclimated, and to prevent burning the plant’s leaves.
Other Conditions to Get Your Plants Thriving
When you have watering and light down, you can insure your plants are surviving, but that doesn’t necessary mean they are thriving. To get the best out of your leafy pets, you need to make sure they have everything they need: the best humidity and temperature levels, the right type of soil and nutrition, enough room for growth, proper trimming and maintenance. It’s also very important to keep an eye on any pests that might have infected your plants and to deal with them in a timely manner.
Related Blog Posts
Light
Soil Types
Fertilizing your plants
Dealing with pests
Plant trimming and maintenance