# Can a Housplant Thrive if Kept in the Small Plastic Store Container, Not Re-Potted?



## SeaBreeze

I have no luck with plants...I don't neglect them, but my husband teases me that I just kill them with kindness.  I don't get much light in my house, and the air where I live is dry, and cool in winter.  I have misted some plants in the past, and that just created some insects/webs from the moisture which ended up killing the plant anyway.

I've lost plants that were kept in the store container, and those that I re-potted.  I prefer not to re-pot them, because they are much heavier to carry to the sink or tub for watering.  Much more of a hassle for me...and I did that years back with each and every one....only to have to take them out of that big pot heavy with soil to trash them.

Well, yesterday I forced myself to re-pot a palm that I bought.  It didn't look great, and a root started showing at the top of the soil.  I buy plants around 10" in diameter, tropical.  I try to get easy to care for ones, simple palms, schleffleras (sp?), philodendrons, snake plants, etc.  Hubby saw me out on the porch, and asked me if I was bringing the plant to hospice. :love_heart:

Is it unreasonable of me to expect any plant to survive in the store container??


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## Jillaroo

_SB you are best to purchase some potting mix and a pot to your liking as it's not a good idea to keep plants in the pot the store put them in, you will need a pot about twice the size of the one it's ion now, and put it in there and you will need to fertilize it also, i always use a product called Seasol, it's a seaweed concentrate that feeds the plant but most importantly it stimulates the roots so they grow, a good plant for you would be a Peace Lily/ Spathaphillium, they are very hardy and thrive on neglect, Palms are not a good idea for indoors, your best bet would be to go to the nursery where they sell the plants and ask the person for some advice on what plant would be best in your home etc, and while there buy yourself a small watering can so you can take the water to the pots and not break your back.
               Plants need space for their roots, if you leave them in the same pot they will become potbound where the roots have nowhere to go but round and round the pot, it is pretty hard to save a plant once that happens, and always when repotting get your hand under the plant after taking it out of it's pot and tease the roots to loosen them up slightly. Anytime you have a plant that looks sick use the seaweed concentrate to try and save them, and don't over water always test by pushing your finger into the soil to see if it's dry. _


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## Diwundrin

Depends on the type of plant it is SB.  I have a 2ft wide Agave that's been been growing/surviving in a handful of very old dirt in a plastic pot that it rolls around in when moved for 4 years. It's just propped up against a wall and another pot or it would fall out on it's face.   It badly needed repotting when I left Singleton almost 3 years ago and I never did get a round tuit.  Other perfectly healthy looking and well tended plants have karked in a week. It's a lucky dip. 
  I'm no green thumb, more the kiss of death to plants.  I treasure the few who have survived my ministrations over the years.  None of them have been well treated I'm afraid, they survive despite me.

Mum had a Devil's Ivy that lived for close on 20years in a jar of water on the laundry window sill.  Nothing else, just the water. It was   a   mass of smelly wet roots in that jar but had bright shiny leaves and was intent on filling the house with itself despite it's living arrangement.  No accounting for that particular plant.  Cuttings from it just turned to jelly and died when potted normally in pots.  Must have been a mutant or something.  It didn't survive the move away from it's window though, poor thing didn't last long in the new house's laundry, just withered and died.  Same aspect, as it appeared to us, but whatever the magic was in the old laundry it wasn't in the new one. RIP Ivy.

You can't go far wrong with Bromeliads. Those things are bulletproof. Other than the really soft leaved ones they survive in all temps between fire and ice and need minimal water normally, while some, like that ivy, have thrived in nothing more than a bowl of water for months at a time.
They are very adaptable and there is such an enormous variety that they don't get tiresome.  Plant a few different ones together for a 'tropical' look.

A tip about those heavy pots.  I potted things in smaller plastic pots and propped them up with a brick or something to level with the lip of the big heavy ceramic ones. It looks like the plant is growing in the big one but they're really easy to lift out and then moving a big empty pot is a whole lot less effort.


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## SeaBreeze

Thanks for the tips guys!   I only use plastic pots, bought several of them years ago when I was really on a houseplant kick.  They're still really heavy when filled with soil.  I buy the cheap plants too, when they're on sale...maybe $10 for a 10 inch plant...that way I don't go broke replacing them when they die.


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## JustBonee

I've always had a hard time with house plants actually living in the house.  They just seem to dry out too quickly,  and beg to be taken outside ...  even my rubber tree plants which I think are easy going plants.  No luck inside the house.  
I put them together outside in an area with equal amounts of sun/shade and they seem happy in that environment and grow fine, even in very hot summers.   I would take a garden hose to them in the evening and mist everything good. 
I've always transplanted any store bought plants into bigger pots with miracle grow potting soil, because from my experience,  the root systems were bursting to get out of the plastic pots they sold them in...  But yes, then they become very heavy, especially in ceramic pots.  I keep a moving dolly handy for the 'moving around'  part.  

We once had a beautiful embalmed palm tree in the living room.  It maybe lasted 10-12 years.  Then it dried out ..


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## Jackie22

Me too, Boo's Mom, I've gave up on plants inside after many years....I have a lovely bamboo plant and boston ferns inside that are fake but look real....wash the dust off about once a year and that's it.

I've just finished moving my real plants from the patio to the garage for the winter...this job takes me a couple of days by the time I prepare the garage and shelves, some are too large to move so I have to rig up a plastic cover and a small heater....this is all getting to be more work than this old broad can/wants to do.....


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## That Guy

Cheap plants are usually unhealthy to begin with and I am not a fan of plastic pots as they hold too much moisture.


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## Katybug

Black thumb born, I have excellent luck with one plant....ferns.  They love my hovering.  I heavily mist & water daily and they're twice the size in no time with little or no brown leaves.  It's sad for me in that I inherited none of my mother's talent for growing anything and to bring it home was a death sentence.  Other than my hearty "Peace Lilly's, sp? and corn plant, I have big problems.  It's almost time to say goodbye to my one success story. Tried bringing the ferns in from the patio one year and quickly grew bored w/the leaves shedding, so I toss. With little space, it's way too much trouble.

As for repotting from plastic, my experience w/everything I've bought is that you have to.  Thank goodness my daughter (with her g'mother's green thumb) does it for me.  Otherwise, everything other than the ferns would be goners.


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## Jillaroo

_Katy do you mist the other plants too as all plants love misting, and you can also put a powdered or liquid fertilizer in the water { a weak solution } as they take in nutrients through their leaves as well as the roots, don't over water your plants as you can kill them with kindness, always push your finger in the soil and if it feels dry it's time to water_


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## SeaBreeze

Took your advice, and repotted the palm and the snake plant that were in the store containers, thanks.


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## Katybug

Jillaroo said:


> _Katy do you mist the other plants too as all plants love misting, and you can also put a powdered or liquid fertilizer in the water { a weak solution } as they take in nutrients through their leaves as well as the roots, don't over water your plants as you can kill them with kindness, always push your finger in the soil and if it feels dry it's time to water_



Have to admit I don't and that's probably the problem. Just do it when I think about it, and probably far too often. Good advice that I will follow.


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## Katybug

Jillaroo said:


> _Katy do you mist the other plants too as all plants love misting, and you can also put a powdered or liquid fertilizer in the water { a weak solution } as they take in nutrients through their leaves as well as the roots, don't over water your plants as you can kill them with kindness, always push your finger in the soil and if it feels dry it's time to water_



I misted all my summer plants/ferns flowers daily, but don't mist my Peace Lily's or Corn Plant because they're inside near furniture.  I'm almost done w/the ferns and summer plants are gone, but on your advice I'm going to begin covering the furniture and mist the house plants.  Thx for the advice, and I learned the hard way not to over water, I've lost so many inside plants that way.


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## babyboomer

Plants depend on a few factors: Light, temperature, moisture, type of soil, PH balance, fertilizer...
In an artificial enviroment, such as in containers or pots, and indoors, it is a bit more complicated.
Good quality potting soil, A sunny or (trough the curtains , drapes) depending on plant, slow, granular fertilizer, and moderate watering..
Cacty and succulants will love the spot on the window sill, where your leafy friends will love filtered light.
Repot, every now and then, Do not let roots fill up the pot, with no soil left.
Note: Residues of the gas in the house, kill a lot of indor plants.
Most of information, can be find on google.


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