Not everyone naturally has a green thumb, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t garden! If you want to become a plant person despite having no skills in that area, we came up with these tips to ensure success through your journey.

1. Begin with easy plants

While plants like ferns, fig trees, and orchids are lovely to look at, many people don’t realise how difficult they are, requiring a high level of maintenance beyond simple water and sunlight. Instead, focus on easy plants such as spider plants, succulents, English Ivy, peace lilies, and Chinese evergreens. Their needs are basic, and they’re not temperamental like some of the others we mentioned.

2. Do your research

These tips will only get you so far—the difference between a plant dying and surviving lies in research, and Google is your friend. Look up how much water or sunlight your plant needs, how often to water it, and what temperature it thrives in, as well as any other special care needs.

If you start with a simpler plant, this shouldn’t be so difficult, but ensure you don’t forget by writing down the basics on notecards close to the plants, and lean into online plant-love forums!

3. Plan a watering schedule

Overwatering plants will kill them, and so will underwatering them, making plant care a tricky art to master for newbies. An excess of water drowns out plants and stops them from getting vital nutrients from the soil, leading to root rot.

If you forget to water them or go out of town without asking someone to care for your plants, they can dry out and die fast. Creating a watering schedule that aligns with your daily routine can significantly improve plant care. 

4. Give it the right kind of sunlight

Catering to your specific plant is a must. You might think your horticultural friend looks cute in a vibrant planter on the windowsill, but if leaves start to lose their green color, it might mean that your plant won’t thrive in intense afternoon sunlight, which is exactly the kind of light it will get on certain windowsills.

Be sure to arrange your plants in a way that is specific to their sunlight needs, and they will thrive as a result!

5. Treat your plants with love

This might sound obvious or frivolous, but treating your plants with the TLC they need is the most important step. Change your mindset; rather than seeing plant care as a chore or just another thing on your to-do list, start viewing plant care time as self-care time. It will allow you to get up, take breaks from the screen, and even sing or jam out to your favorite playlist while you take care of them.

Some studies show that singing to plants can be beneficial for them, releasing carbon dioxide and producing fresh oxygen.

Tips to revive a dying plant

If you already have a plant and find that it’s not doing so well, here are some solutions to common symptoms so that your plant can go from surviving to thriving.

  • Symptoms: Brown/yellow or limp leaves, wet soil, or leaf burn

If your plant looks like this, stop watering it so much! To save it and get rid of root rot, replace rotted roots as well as any soil that has turned into mud.

Let the soil dry until it’s slightly damp to very dry.

  • Symptoms: Brown, wilted, droopy leaves or soil pulling away from container sides

This means your plant is dehydrated. To fix it, place the whole pot into a bucket or sink filled with water for 15-30 minutes. Let it sit (no longer than a day), setting calendar reminders or alarms for when you need to water them.

  • Symptoms: Wilting or yellow leaves, roots on the sides of the pot or reaching over the edge or bottom of the pot 

This means you need to replant into fresh soil and give your plant baby some more room to grow.

If it’s choked off due to overcrowded roots, you’ll need to loosen them up gently and separate them, placing them in fresh soil.

  • Symptoms: Brown, dried leaves or leaves turning black, leaves getting wrinkly or wilted

These signs often mean that your plant has been exposed to too much sun and has a bit of a sunburn! The cure is to trim the leaves and move it into less harsh light.

  • Symptoms: leaves getting paler and longer, turning yellow, or dropping off

This means your plant is getting too little sun, so you need to move it into more indirect light. But how much is enough? If there’s not enough light to read a book without turning on a light, it’s too dark for your plant to thrive.