If you can't keep houseplants alive, you might be neglectful.

[Robertcw]

So, I feel like writing about people who kill houseplants.

It's incredibly difficult to kill a plant, as all you have to do is not water it or water it too much.

And that's why you might be a neglectful and abusive person if you can't not kill houseplants.

It means you don't notice suffering in others, obliviously going about your life slowly killing them. You think they're fine, when they're dying.

Dying houseplants don't grow. They wither and shrivel, and writhe, stunted. They turn pale and die. They are silent and vulnerable. They are indoors.

You might be narcissistic if you kill houseplants. Assuming if you only water them about as often as you think it takes to feed yourself if you were a plant while they are dying of starvation then that's all they need that might be narcissism.

You may lack empathy due to oblivion, if you kill houseplants.

All you need to do is pay attention and water them.

[HOAAH]

My mom raises a ton of houseplants.
She is a self absorbed narcissist, who thinks that she is the most beautiful person ever born and the most righteous. Everyone should worship her and obdy her, or else they are evil and cursed forever. She controls and manipulates everyone around her. Daily, she tells everyone, including my dad, that they are unlovable and evil except for her and poor her to be stuck with such evil and pathetic people who can't be as wonderful as her.

I kill all houseplants. I think that i am not watering them enough and fear i am going to kill them. I water twice a week and all my plants die. Not because I am a narcissistic person, who can't understand people and their feelings. But because I am a pathetic person who fears everyone hates me.

[Robertcw]

:( Oh no. My mom is a narcissist too. I don't hate you. :)

Tips on plants: listen to them. Don't water on regular intervals, only water when they ask. Each plant is different snd has different preferences on when to be watered. They can communicate with you via their soil dryness, and when they begin to starve their leaves will droop, then turn a lighter green and eventually brown. The leaves will also get drier.

Only water when the soil begins to dry and get less moist. If you only water when the soil is slightly less damp and dry then the plant will thrive. :D.

[FictionalCharacter]

I take good care of all my plants. Here are some before and after once I brought them home. I feed them spring water. NOT FAUCET OR DISTILLED WATER.

my babies grew soo long big.

baby in May.

Need to hang them, the vines are about to touch the floor.

This baby is so heavy and big. I’ve got it in May with no vines. Now, the vines are so long. Look, it already wants to touch floor from the ceiling.

[Robertcw]

This is wife material right here. 😍

[FictionalCharacter]

☺️Thank you, that means a lot. ❣️💚

[ObscuredBeyond]

That's why I seek out plants that require minimal maintenance. Of course, the affordable ones are always mature plants that don't have long to live anyway. So even when I nurture them for two years straight, they still die eventually. Because they were half dead when I bought them. So why bother? Because it sure beats having to take care of an animal. Call it OCD, but I find animals to be dirty. All animals. And I feel contaminated coming into contact with one. With plants... it's not the same thing.

[anube]

You know that plants transplanted from your neighbors yard r outside plants just kidding

[Robertcw]

You think I stole neighbors' plants, brought them indoors snd then photographed them just to call them out for this take? That's awesome man.

[anube]

Bro I was trying to be funny

[anube]

Admit it in that context it was funny

[Robertcw]

It *was* funny! You're good man.

[lumos]

I've killed a couple of houseplants even though I tried my best to take care of them :( I always do a lot of research on the plants to see how much sunlight and water they need. Some just seem to be unhappy in my home, I don't know why that is. Plants are temperamental sometimes, I don't think it's always as straightforward as just neglecting them or giving them too much water. Some require pretty specific conditions that you might not be fully aware of, even if you do your research. Or they might already be dying or having issues with their roots when you get them, without you knowing. I don't think it's as black and white as you're making it seem.

[Cynicaldreamer]

@Alpha09 pretty much said it perfectly.

My mom is always buying or putting plants in my yard to make it look nice, even when I tell her I don't want to water or baby them.

And some houseplants are super picky!
They have to get a certain amount of light, no light, x amount of water, or they die. Not all of us have green thumbs. If it's not an unkillable plant, I will kill it 😂

In addition, I work in a hospital. My job is to care for patients and the employees.
I dare someone to call me "neglectful." My job is to put others first.

And when I've had a long day at work, tired, or have a million other real life issues to tend to? Watering a plant is the last thing on my mind!

It doesn't mean I'm selfish. It means I have other things, or people, that need my attention more.

So you really need to consider ALL factors of why some people can't keep houseplants alive. Don't lump all of us as neglectful or selfish.

[lovedejj_xo]

Thank you social worker over here I definitely had a good LOL at this

[Cynicaldreamer]

Right? Lol. He obviously doesn't realize some of us have more pressing obligations in life than tending to a plant all the time

[wittymilf]

Meh, some houseplants are sick when you get them, and some are just precious and temperamental and you guys were never gonna get off on the right foot. I killed a cactus 😳 apparently that’s hard to do.

[Robertcw]

🤣😂 It's okay.

[Randomawkwardness]

Just because someone is bad at remembering to water plants doesn't make them abusive or narcissistic. Noticing a plant dying is very different from a human. Plants wither and become part of the background, not necessarily something you look at every day. Should we label people as abusive if they don't dust every day? Honestly, posting things like this is only hurtful. You'll lead people to self diagnose themselves when they are no where close to the real definition of the disorder.

[Robertcw]

Maybe I went too far.

[lumos]

Not to mention that some plants aren't as obvious with their death as others. I once had a plant that looked totally fine, the leaves were still green, thick and waxy. But as I was watering it, I accidentally bumped into one of its branches, and all the leaves just fell off that branch. Confused, I gave its pot a little shake, and then about 80% of the leaves just fell off. It was super odd. For the next week, I really tried my best to check on it and take care of it, but at that point it was clear that it had practically already died.

[Robertcw]

@lumos "But as I was watering it, I accidentally bumped into one of its branches, and all the leaves just fell off that branch. Confused, I gave its pot a little shake, and then about 80% of the leaves just fell off. It was super odd." 😂😂😂 Bwhahahahaha... HAHAHA.

Sorry I laughed too hard at this.

[lovedejj_xo]

I’m not a flower person and don’t like receiving them because well they die. But my puppy has been happy and breathing for a solid 5 months so I’m doing something right. I think people get busy and flowers just cannot be compared to people sorry... how about if you’re depressed then what? You think people are worried about a plant. This post is a bit much in terms of comparison. Definitely not narcissism.

[Cynicaldreamer]

The puppy is alive! She must be doing something right, LOL.

I'd be more concerned if someone couldn't keep a pet or child alive: there's your red flag!

[lovedejj_xo]

Honestly lol!! He just commented on one of my comments and called me a plant killer so beware.

[Robertcw]

Lol. 🤣

[lovedejj_xo]

☺️☺️☺️

[Taylor_C]

Not necessarily true. Many plants have needs beyond water. Some may need a certain amount of light, some require certain levels of humidity. The latter is very difficult to control in a home environment. So, it´s possible to kill pot plants without being neglectful.

[Hurlyburly]

Or maybe you just have zero interest in plants but care a lot about other people and animals...
My mother just loves plants of any kind and no matter how often I tell her that they do not interest me in the slightest keeps buying them for me on about every occasion and then wonders that I forget to water them.

[SoWhAt249]

Omg, my mom is like this, and she believes they die because the house has only sorrow, instead of happiness. I keep telling her to stop buying new flowers because none last longer than a month. The only plant that she has somehow kept alive is a ficus, that sprouts new leaves, but hasn't grown like at all, since she bought it like 2 years ago.

[SpacedCharr]

I think it depends on the houseplant and whether you bought it yourself or not.

Some plants are ridiculously easy to kill, those are often best left to professionals or dedicated hobbyists.

Likewise, if you're given a houseplant, someone else has effectively saddled you with a life. Do you even want it?

But if you bought the plant for yourself and choose to neglect it, yeah, I can see where you're coming from.

[Alpha09]

Or maybe your hella busy taking care of the people in your life, working, paying rent etc and the plant that was given to you randomly is the last thing on your mind lol

[Robertcw]

🤣 I was literally laughing at this opinion. Good point. Good point. Touché.

[Anonymous]

I can’t even keep a cactus alive and they grow in the desert. However, I am far from neglectful. I have three kids and I had a dog for 15 years that I got when I was 5 and fed her everyday myself I also took her for walks.
I just can’t keep plants alive that’s it.

[blutwolfe]

Yeah I see where you were going with this, people took it the wrong way. It's more metaphorical not literal, and people took it literal. Probably not the best comparison either.

Basically saying background issues matter, that you not only care about primary issues but you also don't neglect the background issues. Most people aren't that devoted or are oblivious.

[Massageman]

Keep plants with similar needs together. So, don't plant ferns with cacti, for example. "Killing plants with kindness" is probably the number one problem with houseplants. As others have mentioned, water only when needed, and make sure every pot has drainholes so the plants don't get "wet feet".

If all else fails, get a pothos or spider plant, and water with rain water or let tap water "outgas" for a day or two before using.

[MORPHEUS_12]

This is bordering the fringes of
Anthropomorphism.

[BetteDavis]

Haha I have the black thumb of death... like the opposite of a green thumb! Meanwhile the kids stayed alive 👍

[elite665]

this made me laugh thank you

[BetteDavis]

You are most welcome 😊

[stardust101]

Give the dying house plants to me, I’ll revive them.

[Big-A]

Water and sunlight.

How do you fuck that up exactly?

[stardust101]

Right? *shakes head*

[purplepoppy]

It's sad that we permit those who can't even look after a plant to have children. One can only imagine the neglect they must endure.

[Meatunnel69]

You dont even have to water them. Place wicking rope in a pot of water then proceed to going back to being a neglectful scumbag

[HobisSunshineXD]

Dang... Im neglectful

[Robertcw]

It's okay. Maybe start practicing paying more attention to the needs of the plants you're taking care of. Believe it or not they can communicate with you. They'll tell you when they've had too much or too little water. You just need to pay attention to how they react and behave.

[HobisSunshineXD]

Is that like how people say that sleaking to trees helps them grow?

[HobisSunshineXD]

*speaking

[Robertcw]

No I don't think so. lol.

What I mean is that when a plant is underwatered the soil will get physically dry and the plant itself will begin to shrivel and looks upset. When overwatered the soil will appear like mud and the plant will look suffocated and unsettled.

[Robertcw]

Leaves will droop, turn a lighter shade of green and eventually yellow or brown and stems may become thinner. No new growth, leaves could also become less shiny and dull or dry.

[Robertcw]

Basically the same way a person looks in each case. For example, a healthy person: external-content.duckduckgo.com/.../

A person beginning to starve: external-content.duckduckgo.com/.../

A person suffocating: external-content.duckduckgo.com/.../

Basically, I'm saying people who kill plants may not notice when the people in their lives are uncomfortable or not well. For instance, they might think they're kid is very skinny and therefore healthy and not feed them much when in reality they could have been running a calorie deficit and been very uncomfortable and technically starving.

Likewise, they could be overbearing in trying to help others without paying attention to how the other people respond to adjustments.