houseplants, one habit per page
Thirty habits for people who keep killing plants and blame their thumbs: light as the food and the crisp-shadow test, why Sunday watering kills, the finger that reads the pot, the lift test, drainage holes and drowning roots, the empty saucer, the wet-dry cycle, water that drains freely, the pot that's too big, when leaves lie, the radiator and the draught, holiday water, feed in the season, salts and brown tips, dust on leaves, the spring trim, roots out of the hole, cuttings in a glass of water, and the plants that bite cats, one habit per page.
A diagram, the classic trap, and one thing to go try this week. That's a page.
houseplants, one habit per page
Thirty habits for people who keep killing plants and blame their thumbs: light as the food and the crisp-shadow test, why Sunday watering kills, the finger that reads the pot, the lift test, drainage holes and drowning roots, the empty saucer, the wet-dry cycle, water that drains freely, the pot that's too big, when leaves lie, the radiator and the draught, holiday water, feed in the season, salts and brown tips, dust on leaves, the spring trim, roots out of the hole, cuttings in a glass of water, and the plants that bite cats, one habit per page.
Set in Space Grotesk, Inter and JetBrains Mono (SIL Open Font License).
Houseplant behaviour and numbers checked against the Royal Horticultural Society's houseplant growing guide and its cuttings guide (rhs.org.uk), University of Maryland Extension's watering indoor plants and overwatered indoor plants pages (extension.umd.edu), Iowa State University Yard and Garden's diagnosing houseplant problems guides (yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu), Missouri Botanical Garden's problems common to many indoor plants (missouribotanicalgarden.org), Penn State Extension's repotting houseplants (extension.psu.edu), University of Minnesota Extension's spring houseplant care (extension.umn.edu), and America's Poison Control (poison.org) with the ASPCA toxic plants database for toxicity claims, all fetched and read during this build. Depths, intervals and temperatures are quoted as those sources state them. Concepts are named as the sources name them. Teaching conventions (name the plant, one habit per page) are named as conventions. This book quotes no verbatim passages and is an independent guide not affiliated with or endorsed by any of the above.
General information only. Not professional advice; verify against your own plants, windows and the current advice pages. Toxicity information is not medical or veterinary advice: contact your poison centre or vet if a plant is eaten.
Your purchase is for personal use only. You do not have redistribution rights: please do not share, resell, or republish this book or its pages.
© 2026 Steve Hodgkiss. All rights reserved. Personal use only; no redistribution rights.
Edition 1.0 · stevehodgkiss.net
Contents
The model
What actually keeps a plant alive: light as the food, roots that need air as much as water, the number one killer, and the two honest checks that replace every watering schedule.
- 01Sunday watering kills
- 02The finger is the schedule
Watering on a fixed schedule is a top cause of houseplant death; check the soil before watering instead. Per University of Maryland Extension and Iowa State Extension.
Sunday watering kills
Let's say you water every Sunday because a routine feels like care, and the leaves keep going yellow anyway. Maryland Extension counts the cost: a large percentage of houseplants are lost to overwatering and underwatering, and watering on a schedule is part of it.
Iowa State's version is the keepable line: check for water on a schedule, don't water on a schedule. The calendar reminds you to look. The soil decides whether the can comes out.
The finger is the schedule. The calendar isn't.
Keep your Sunday check-in this week, but change the rule: touch the soil first, and water only the pots that have dried out. Log which ones drank.
Test soil with a finger about two inches deep, or one to two inches; if it's dry there, water. If in doubt, wait a day. Per University of Maryland Extension and Iowa State Extension.
The finger is the schedule
Let's say you tap the pot, squint at the leaves, and guess. There's an instrument you already own. Guessing is how both drowning and drought get started.
The test is Maryland's: push a finger into the soil to about two inches; if it's dry that deep, water. Iowa State agrees on an inch or two, and adds the rule that saves more plants than any gadget: if you question it, wait at least one more day.
Two inches down, the pot tells the truth.
Finger-test every plant you own this week, two inches deep, and sort them into two piles: drinks today, waits. Feel the difference in your fingertip.
Water, done right
The wet-dry cycle, why the pot needs a hole, the saucer you must empty, how much water is enough, the water you pour, and leaving home without a funeral.
- 01The hole lets roots breathe
- 02Never sit in water
- 03Thorough, then dry
Containers should always have a drainage hole so excess water can escape; roots need air, and plants sitting in water drown. Per the RHS houseplant guide.
The hole lets roots breathe
Let's say the ceramic pot you love has no hole, and you plant straight into it anyway. Every pour that's a drop too much has nowhere to go. You built a swamp with nice glaze.
The RHS states it without exceptions: containers always get a drainage hole, because roots need air to breathe, and soil sitting in water drowns the roots. No hole? Drill one, says Penn State.
The hole isn't a flaw. It's the lungs.
Check every pot you own for a drainage hole this week. For the ones without, plan the fix: a drilled hole, or a plastic pot inside that drains, lifted out to water.
Never let houseplants sit in water; empty excess from saucers after watering, both for roots and to prevent fungus gnats. Per University of Maryland Extension, the RHS and the ASPCA guidance via UMD.
Never sit in water
Let's say you water thoroughly, feel virtuous, and leave the saucer full because it looks tidy. The plant drinks that water back up all night. A drained pot sitting in a full saucer is sitting in a swamp.
Maryland Extension pairs the two rules: any excess water should be dumped from drainage saucers, and never let your houseplants sit in water. It's not only roots: water hanging around in saucers invites fungus gnats, the little black flies that drive you mad later.
Empty saucers save roots. Five minutes, every time.
Adopt the routine this week: water, wait for the drip to finish, empty the saucer, return the pot. Time it. It's less than five minutes.
Houseplants benefit from a wet-dry cycle: thoroughly wet the root ball, then let it dry before watering again, only watering when dry but before the plant wilts. Per Iowa State Extension.
Thorough, then dry
Let's say you give each plant a sip every few days, so the soil stays faintly damp forever. Nothing drowns, nothing drinks properly. Permanent damp is a slow rot.
Iowa State names the cycle roots want: thoroughly wet the root ball, then let it dry completely before watering again, and apply water only when the soil is dry but before the plant begins to wilt. All the way wet, then all the way dry. Sips on repeat keep it in the deadly middle.
Soak it, then starve it a little. That's the cycle.
Pick one plant this week and break the sip habit: water until it drains freely, note the day, then don't touch it until the finger test reads dry two inches down.
A container that is too big holds wet soil too long and contributes to overwatering and root rot; pots must have drainage holes and not sit in water. Per Iowa State Extension.
The pot that's too big
Let's say you pot a small cutting into a big handsome pot, water it normally, and it still rots. The pot outvoted you. Extra soil is extra sponge, and the roots can't drink it dry.
Iowa State puts container size on the overwatering causes list: a pot too big holds water long after the roots have had enough, sitting wet for weeks, inviting rot. The fix is geometry, not willpower: right-size the pot, keep the drainage hole, never let it sit in a saucer of water.
The pot should fit the roots you have, not the plant you're hoping for.
Audit your shelves for any small plant swimming in a big pot. If the soil stays wet a week after watering, plan a downsize at the next spring repot.
Take cuttings 8 to 10cm long cut just below a leaf joint, remove lower leaves leaving two or three, keep compost moist or root in a glass of water with the level below the leaves, in a bright but not sunny spot; roots in three to four weeks. Per the RHS cuttings guide.
Cuttings in a glass
Let's say you paid for a second pothos because the first one was thriving and you wanted more of it. The first one can make the rest. You bought a plant you already owned.
The RHS method, whole: cut an 8 to 10cm stem just below a leaf joint, strip the lower leaves, leaving two or three on top, then either pot it in moist mix or stand it in a glass of water, level below the leaves. Bright but not sunny spot. Roots in three to four weeks.
One healthy stem, a glass, four weeks. Free plants.
Snip one cutting from a healthy plant this week, strip it to three leaves, and stand it in a glass where you'll see it daily. Mark the pot-out date four weeks out.