This is actually very important question asked by my friend Anamta from India via my Instagram DMs, therefore it is the one in this list and not in the ¨submitted¨ part of this page.

So, in different parts of the world, there are different types of climates. For example Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) is quite cold in the winter, usually just below freezing or just above freezing, and in Asia it is usually much warmer but often drier. See, the conditions outside can change conditions inside. For example in India, it would automatically be warmer inside, and in the cold parts of Russia it would automatically be very cold and have unstable temperature because heating isn´t usually on 24/7.

Now when i share plant care advice on this website and you live in a different climate than me, here are a few things to consider and use:

1. Not all tips apply to you, for example when i say that the majority of houseplants like to be watered once a week but you live in a hot country where soil even inside dries up within a day, you´ll have to water whenever the soil is dry.
2. When you notice something that doesn´t apply to you or your climate, think about how you can adjust the advice to work for you, because it is not missinformation, it just doesn´t work for you.

If you have trouble with adjusting advice, just leave a comment at the bottom of this page and check up on the comment every once in a while, i am happy to help! You can also send an email to plantswithjules@gmail.com or send me a DM on Instagram.

WHY : Spikes on cactuses are an defense mechanism to defend the plants against animals.

The Old Man Cactus (Cephalocereus senilis) is coverd in spikes AND hair, which is used to fight cold temperatures in a cold desert night.

HOW : Cactuses don't have any leaves, so when the stem of the cactus grows, instead of the plant producing leaves, it grows hard (or soft-hair like) spikes. When the cactus grows, it uses energy (via photosynthesis) to push out spikes. 

You can water your air plant by misting the leaves or putting it in a bowl of lukewarm water and let is soak for 60 minutes

Air plants collect water via tiny hairs on their leaves. Air plants usually doesn't have any roots, so the leaves soak up the water. So of course, slow-release fertilizer pills doesn´t work on these plants, because there are no roots for it to work! You CAN fertilize these plants by putting some liquid fertilizer in a bowl full of lukewarm water.

As the mother plant matures, it will grow corms/bulbs (little, weird-shaped ball-like seed) attached too the roots, when repotting the plant, you need to carefully pluck them off, place them in a few layers of water, and within a few weeks, tiny roots will emerge, and a shoot where the leaf will come out. Once the roots are about 1 inch long (2.5CM), it is ready to be put in soil and thrive! 

Stem cuttings are also a option, just cut the stem, place in a propagation glass full with water, place it in a warm and humid spot and watch as roots form in a couple of weeks-months!

Patience is the con of propagating, this goes for all plants, especially for ZZ plants (Zamiculcas Zamiifolia), which can take up to 6 months to even start rooting!

A node is a bump on the stem of a plant, which pushes out leaves, aerial roots and roots. de-activated nodes can be activated via propagation, or air layering.

A ¨Genus¨ is  a group of all (for example) Monstera varieties.

So when you are talking about all Monstera species/varieties, you call that group a ¨Genus¨!

An example in a sentence: ¨My favorite plant genus is Monstera!¨

Plants are easier than you might think, i made a list for you for plants to consider growing:

1. Monstera deliciosa (non-variegated are the easiest)
2. Coleus
3. 🚫NOT Calathea and NOT Alocasia, no matter what people say! Click here to see why
4. Pilea
5. Rhaphidophora tetrasperma (non-variegated are the easiest)
6. Strelitzia (great for experimenting with big plants!)

If you click on the green plant names, you´ll automatically be shown the care guide of that plant genus!

There is no "best pesticide" because everyone has a different experience with pesticides, but i like Neem Oil! Neem Oil is one of the best organic pesticides out there, because it comes from the Neem tree (Azadirachta indica). When you mix Neem oil with water and spray it on your houseplant/garden plants, instead of killing the pests on touch, the neem oil goes into the plant so that if any pest bites into the plant, it dies. Therefore Neem oil can help for a long time. For some people, Neem Oil doesn´t work like they wish they did. You can also choose alternatives like spraying rubbing alcohol, using good bugs (they work amazing and won´t hurt your plants) or toxic chemicals like edialux.

WATCH OUT : Neem oil WILL smell weird at first, so i recommend spraying your plants outside and put them in a shed or any warm place for a few days before carrying your plants back inside.

WATCH OUT : Using high concentrations of Neem oil at once, can cause sun sensitivity for your plants (which gives the leaves more chance to burn.).

So you want an easy but also a unique plant to grow? I gotchu!

1. Aglaonema
2. Begonia
3. Gynura
4. Oxalis
5. Polyscias
6. Thaumatophyllum

Click on the green text to see their care guide!

Clear plastic pots are a must have, especially if you are repotting a treated sick plant, potting a propagation or just like to see how the roots are doing. Clear pots are also used to see when the soil is dry and ready to be watered or to see if the plant is root bound and ready to be repotted and to see the condition of the roots.

Terracotta is also great. Just like LECA they soak op moisture. Therefore it is perfect for moisture-loving plants!

The traditional plastic pots are fine too, you can tell if the plant needs to be repotted by seeing if the roots are coming out of the drainage holes (except for plants with really thick roots like Strelitzia´s), and if you need to know if the plants needs to be watered, you use a soil probe, moisture meter, the finger method, or a wooden stick. 

Personally, i like the wooden stick method. I just stick it in the soil, and if it comes out wet and dirty, the plant doesn't have to be watered. If the stick comes out dry and with a minimal amount of soil, you may water the plant. This DOESN'T go for plants like cacti and succulents, because they rather be bone dry for a week or 4, than be watered every week. Because that causes root rot.

When you cut back the plant, in a month or 2, the energy from the old part of the plant now goes to new growth, the plant WILL grow further! This goes for most plants. Just plop the cutting in some water, and it'll root in no time, due to the big amount of nodes on the stem.

Just like humans and other animals, plants need oxygen to survive! Yes, pretty much all plants produce oxygen while taking in carbon dioxide, but a lot of plants take oxygen at night. During warm months, you can absolutely have your windows open as long as there is no cold or hot draft, you don´t want your plants to go into shock from temperature differences. In the winter, it is still important to get fresh air! I try to open my windows every day for 5 or 10 minutes, not all plants are enjoying the cold air but it is necesarry.

¨But if plants need oxygen, what about closed terrariums?..¨ Well when plants are in a terrarium, air gets recycled! That is why they can survive for sooo long. Off-topic but i have noticed that the more i open my terrariums, it grows more mold. I think that that has to do with bacteria coming in while it being open.

The quick answer is YES and NO. 

YES: It can help a lot with rehydrating old soil, dried out roots and prevent hydrophobic (water-resistant) soil. 

NO: You should´t thoroughly water when have repotted a plant in a pot more than 3 or 4 sizes bigger than the root ball. The unspoken rule with repotting most houseplants (depends on the type of plant. For example, Anthurium seem to do better in bigger pots for me) is that the pot must not be bigger than 2 sizes than the root ball. If you follow that ¨rule¨, you can immediatly water thorougly (except for succulents and cacti, it´s best if you water them after 2 weeks of being repotted) so that the roots are triggered to grow towards the water at all sides, but when the pot is bigger than 2 sizes bigger, it can take too long for the soil to dry out and things can start to rot.

Summary: YES, but NOT with plants that have just been repotted in a pot more than 2 or 3 sizes bigger than the root ball.

Watering schedules are often used by people with less interest in plants, people that are busy all the time or just people who doesn't want to check the plants every day. My water day is usually on a Wednesday, but when i see a droopy plant, a plant with dry soil or a plant that needs to be constantly moist like a Chameadorea or ferns, i water them.

In the wild, most Philodendron grow in trees (except for a few kinds), so mimicking that by growing your Phildendron on a moss pole, trellis, coco coir pole or bamboo stake (or any other climbing method) would be great!

(Even the hanging Philodendron!)

Droopy leaves are often a sign of thirst, so give it some water. Maybe even consider fertilizing the plant.

Yellowing leaves often happens when the plant is overwatered. This means that the plant is getting water too often/too much. Most of the time overwatering can result in root rot.

Yellowing leaves can also be caused by cold temperatures, and stress by humidity/temperature chages/instability

But don't worry! Most of the time it is just an old leaf dying off. Which is totally fine! Leaves sadly enough don't live forever, so when it's their time, it is their time. 

Most orchids like to be repotted after the bloom period. Because in the wild, orchids grows on trees. So instead of using soil, you should use orchid bark, which you can find in most plant nurseries

Green roots = healthy hydrated roots

Silver roots =  dehydrated roots

Brown/mushy roots = unhealthy rotten roots. Cut them off!

Cut off the flower stalk, and wait 'till next year!

Plants have chlorophyll cells, and chlorophyll helps with catching sunlight and most of the time, chlorophyll cells are green, that is how green plants get their color, but chlorophyll isn´t always green. Variegated plants have no chloropyll in the variegated spots, so the color that you see are from other cells. But because variegated plants have less chlorophyll, it grows slower because of the lack of chlorophyll.

Pretty much all ferns like to be in high humidity. Now if the fern hasn´t grown in a big while, it can be because the plant is root bound. Alot of times when someone repots a plant, they don´t correctly loosen the root ball. This can cause the plant to stay in the shape of its previous pot. To prevent this, simply loosen the root ball while repotting. If the plant is too root bound for that, just rip off a few roots, so those roots are firmly touching the new soil. If possible, then try to remove most of the soil from the roots before repotting. Hope this helped! 

9 MONTH UPDATE: I got in contact with the woman that asked this question! She followed my advice and her fern is finally growing new fronds! 

Having mealybugs on your roots and in the soil is a common problem, so don´t worry, i can help!

You can spray Isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol to sort of dissilve mealybugs, squeezing them also works! In order to do this properly, unpot the plant(s), get rid of most of the soil and don´t reuse it in case there are more mealies (mealybugs) there. Then you can spray the alcohol directly onto the roots to kill the mealies, or soak the roots in water with green soap and rubbing alchohol. Are there still mealybugs left? Rinse the roots and squish whatever you can find.

No, you don´t have to cut them off or anything because it is not harmful in any way! Now i don´t know which plant you are talking about, but i am assuming that it´s an Anthurium. Anthurium spadixs/inflorescences have 2 stages; male first, then female.

The male inflorescence produces pollen and 2 male inflorescences cannot pollinate eachother. After producing the pollen, the male inflorescence transitions into a female inflorescence, so you would need 2 inforescences in 2 different stages.

I can´t believe that i used the word ¨inflorescence¨ 6 times already

There are also bisexual flowers! That is not the same as in animals (like humans and other animals) but it means that there are both male and female reproductive organs in 1 flower that can pollinate itself. Cool, right?