Confessions of a Serial Plant Killer

263

Scandinavian
HDB (BTO)
~1,300 sqft
4 br
Living with Family

If ever the law states that killing a plant is a crime, we'd be in & out of jail quite frequently! Over the course of a few months, we have 'killed' quite a number of green babies. What you see here are some of the survivors plus new acquisitions. We had tried to go for easy to care, 'hard to kill' type of plants. Those that required minimum sun, water once a week kind. Despite following instructions religiously we still could not avoid the inevitable. Maybe it's the air, maybe it's the water. Till today it's still an unsolved mystery.
We're going to just talk about a couple of them. The biggest victim has got to be the Ficcus Lyrata. As soon as we had settled down after moving in it was at the top of our shopping list. It was doing well for the first 2 months until leaves started to fall off, due to what we suspected was bacteria infection. We tried giving it garlic water & fertilisers but it was in vain. Our hearts were broken each time we had to pick up a leaf from the floor. Eventually all the leaves were gone by the 4th month. The empty pot now takes up a small corner in the store room.
We wanted to have plants in every room for health & wellness purposes. This one here is called the Chinese Evergreen. It’s considered one of the best foliage plants for cleansing room air of toxins such as benzene and formaldehyde. It lasted about 5 months.
The peace lily is well known for its air-purifying abilities as a houseplant. It can break down and neutralize toxic gases like carbon monoxide and formaldehyde. It is also hardy, forgiving, and will even let you know when it is thirsty - just look for the tell-tale droop. It was a beauty when it was blooming with white flowers but alas, it's gone by the 4th month being with us.
It's not all doom and gloom here. This Swiss Cheese Plant that came last September is so far so good. Perhaps the filtered water that the florist told us to feed it is doing the trick!
The failures did not deter us from continuing to explore. This beauty is called Coleus Assorted. We were attracted to the shape of the leaves and the vibrant colour. It is also relatively easy to care for. (Hope I didn't jinx it there!)
And who can resist the energy & positivity that a sunflower brings? There is no denying the impact that plants have on our surroundings. So even though we've failed before, we will press on to learn as much as possible on how to provide the best care & hopefully we will have healthy & thriving plants in our home sooner!