When easy plants are hard

Or, my struggle with my Monstera

One of my favourite bits about reading books about houseplants is smiling at how hard or easy taking care of certain plants is supposed to be.

A quick browse through Plantopedia shows me that Ficus elastica (rubber plant) is “novice level”, as is Chlorophytum comosum (spider plant), and Goeppertia kegeljanii (also known as Calathea musaica, or network calathea) is “green thumb” level.

Plant Society classifies the entire species Alocasia as “hard”, Calathea as “medium” and Spathiphyllum (peace lily) as “easy”.

This Dutch book on houseplants recommends Sansevieria for complete beginners, Strelitizia nicolai for more experienced plant carers, and the aptly named Philodendron gloriosum as suitable for true “plant whisperers” only.

All three books classify Monstera deliciosa as “easy”. So far, I’ve killed at least one of these, and its baby is struggling. The Alocasia zebrina that we’ve had for years, on the other hand, and which is supposedly a “hard” plant, is very happy and has produced many, many offshoots.

So, what’s up with so-called “easy” and “hard” plants? Which easy plants are you struggling with? And which “hard” plants thrive in your home?

Not my Monstera (photo by Annie Pratt, through Unsplash)

“Easy” versus “hard” plants

I think it’s completely understandable that plant books make a distinction between plants. And some plants are indeed more beginner-friendly: as long as you don’t overwater and make sure that it’s getting enough direct light, spider plants are virtually impossible to kill. They’ll even live happily only on water, with no soil.

But for most plants, thinking in terms of “easy” or “hard” is hardly black and white. There are plants that require more care: Philodendrons, for instance, are notoriously picky when it comes to their water needs, and giving them too little or too much water is easily done.

Yet so much depends on the circumstances in which the plants live—the ecosystem in your house. I’ve written before about the Pilea peperomiodes that thrive in my house, but the one I gave my mother refuses to grow.

5 lessons I learned taking care of houseplants

My Monstera

A couple of years ago I got a glorious Monstera for my birthday. It was beautiful and had holes in all the right places. After a few months it rapidly became very unhappy. It was supposedly getting the light it needed: a little bit in the morning. I wasn’t as experienced then as I am now, and on the advice of my partner ended up watering it more. It lived in a pot without a hole in the bottom and—you guessed it—I overwatered it.

Within a month its leaves had fallen off or turned brown. When I took the plant out of its pot, I saw that most of its roots had gotten black and soggy: they were dead.

In the same pot, a small Monstera lived. Its roots still looked fine, so I potted it up (in a pot with a hole!), moved it a little bit away from the window, and crossed my fingers. It’s been mostly fine until this summer. It’s not been growing much, with a max of three leaves at a time.

I troubleshooted it the way I would advise anyone to troubleshoot their plant: check water (was fine), check position (seemed to be fine), repot (which I did, in a slightly lighter mix). And then the heatwave struck and something must have happened—maybe it got direct, harsh sunlight in the mornings—and two of its three leaves started developing brown edges.

Even the little bit on the stem of the newest leaf where a new leaf is supposed to form had turned brown. That’s bad news for a plant: if it’s unable to create new leaves, it can’t survive.

And then! A miracle!

Last week, I spotted two green sprigs next to the base of the plant. With the original leaves apparently unable to create new leaves, these little sprigs are turning into new leaves, (hopefully) ensuring the plant’s survival.

So, the Monstera lives to see another day. But to say that I find it an “easy” plant…

It’s alive! The small sprigs appearing at the base of my plant (which a cameo by the neighbouring Calathea).

Which plants do you struggle with? And which “hard” plants thrive in your care?