A hard plant to kill is a Sans...If you kill this one, then I would resort to silk or plastic..:-)

Oh one more....A CLIVIA....

You can ignore these in the watering department, and they still grow well. Most people kill their plants from too much watering, which is what you might be doing, unless you are not watering your plants to the point of death.

So tend to ignore these, the Sans, and Clivia...Just not weeks without a drink..;-)

Get a caladium and an alocasia. If the caladium dies you're watering too much and if the alocasia dies you're watering too little. If both die you have a black thumb. lol, just my $0.02

LOL @ taz!

I would add that in addition to water, I'd throw light in. Many people put plants wherever they want, and its usually in places where the plants dont' get enough light at all, no matter how easy on the water you go.

I'd disagree with ya mike, on the Sans. They get pythium like nobodys business. In interior landscaping, snakes are one of the higher turnover plants. SO easy to kill because their root hairs are really sensitive. Drop the plant, you dislodge the roothairs and rot the plant when you water it. Dehydrate it for just a little too long, the root hairs die and the plant will rot when watered (and it smells like the worst wet ashtray you've ever smelled!) They are a thorn in our side! I've been doing plants for almost a decade so my turnover isn't quite as bad as most, but even for me they are a bit of a headache! It really is all in the watering, but they are just so damn sensitive :(

Not to scare anyone or anything :)

Get a cactus!! Wait, I've killed numerous cacti too :(

About the pot question, I personally repot everything I get within a week or two. That way I know how much room they have to grow and I know what the potting mix is.
Since they are taken care of by others, if they start to decline, ask the pros if they are root bound.

I must have a miracle Sans then....I only water that thing twice a month, it sits in the corner of a room where it gets only morning light,sometimes none, when I forget to open the shades for days at a time, and I even forget I have it at times......I am like, oh God, I forgot to water you!!!
It is still looking great and never a problem with it. It never has bugs either. It never sulks, and never complains, and never talks back at me.. It is the most ignored plant I have..lol

Guess I am just lucky on this one...lol

Oh ya, it was a Home Depot on on sale for 10 bucks.

Maybe it likes it this way..:-0)

Oh ya,,.here's the funny thing!

I couldn't grow a cactus if you paid me either, not even a alovera plant..LOLOLOL

I have no problem growing hard to handle plants, especially tropicals, but cactus..FORGET IT!!So don't feel so bad. To me these are very high maintainence..To some, the easiest things to grow...Crazy...:-)

Before you buy anymore plants, you should try and figure out "why" all those other plants died so quickly, trying to avoid the same fate of any new ones you may buy in the future.
Over-watering could be a possibility. It's the number reason for houseplant deaths!

Billy Rae

Green spider plant. I have let it stay bone dry for months and it still grew.

Soak it everyday and it will grow even faster, I put one in my mothers basement laundry room and it had one tiny window and it grew.

I am another lucky Sans (mother in law) plant. I did not think you could kill them. I did not water it all winter and it survived, I ignore my plants alot. LOL

Wait a minute! Hold the fort! We have no information whatsoever to go on. Before anyone can give adequate plant suggestions we need to know a few things. How far are the plants going to be from windows? Is there tinting on those windows? Light is reduced by a half every foot away from a light source it is. If it gets 1500 candle feet a foot from a southern window, it will only get 750 cf two feet away, and 375 cf two feet away, and so on, a few feet away from any window is no light whatsoever. An east facing window will only give at most 2/3 the light a southern window will.

How often you water will also have to be discussed, what kind of pots they will be in, are they going to be in decorative catchpots? How will you compensate for drainage if you do put them in one? Two reasons for winter death in house plants is over watering and lack of light a combination of the two is the death of a plant. I tend to go to the oppostie extreme and under water my plants. They tend to look shriveled after a while, but I grow succulents I dare not over water them.

Please answer those few questions for us before anyone makes another suggestion willy nilly. Thanks :)

Pineapples are pretty easy. They have rather low water requirements, and seem to take lower light okay as long as you get them outdoors during the warmer months. The main thing you should probably watch is that they're extraordinarily sharp, and occasionally serrated (And nothing feels like getting cut up my a pineapple plant. It's the oddest feeling).

"Get a caladium and an alocasia. If the caladium dies you're watering too much and if the alocasia dies you're watering too little. If both die you have a black thumb. lol, just my $0.02"

Every alocasia x polly 'african mask' I've seen turns orange rots out from the foliage down if you so much as look at it funny. I don't think I've heard of anyone successfully keeping one outside of a greenhouse.

(And if it wasn't for the humidity requirements, Blechnum gibbums would be perfect for people that tend to overwater their plants).

Mentha.....You gave me a good laugh this am....I am still laughing writing this....Willy Nilly!lol
The thing is you gave the best advice....All things should be taken into consideration before anyone even considers buying a living thing...
What wrong with us in such a haste to help someone to possibly kill more...
You are a a gift here..:-)

Ok here's some more info then.....I've had a spider plant and it got covered in white fuzzy stuff (mealy bugs maybe?) and no matter how hard I tried I could not get rid of it and it died very fast...like in a couple of weeks.
Well the plants on the east side of my house in the windows are about 1 foot from the window...maybe closer. I repot them in decorative pots with the holes in the bottom and the water catcher attached. I asked about the potting because I just can't believe every plant in my office has been in those black 10" things for 10 years, are no where near a window and they look great...
I generaly water mine at home once a week. I try to water my rubber plant twice a week because that's what I have read and it's doing just ok but is growing towards the window like it's starving for light.
My sheffelera (sp?) does best when I totally ignore it and maybe give it a tad of water once every 2 weeks.
I can't seem to bring my corn plant back. New leaves turn brown every single day now. I'm at a loss.
When my plants look sick, i put them at my back covered patio where they get a tad of morning sun and within a week they spring to life (except the corn plant). I dread having to bring them in this winter because they will sulk but usually survive ok in front of the west window.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I've killed something called a Tea plant (purplish leaves) spider plant, majesty palm(although the one i have now is happy on the patio in the sun) cactus, aloe vera plant, plenty of succulents (they hate me) I even killed a philodendron....2 of them. Maybe I do over water.....

Look, don't give up...

You said they did well when put in light...More of it..There is a hint...

You said you may even may be overtwatering....You see there is a start, another hint.

Lots here use to kill plants as you, especially me. But as mentha said, you need to rexamine your lighting and watering habits, locations.

I think you are getting it now.

If you read the tags on some of the plants at your local depot, or nursery, you'll see the care instructions and requirements for healthy plants.MOST hate wet feet.
Some plants are easier than others.
Remember, overwatering and underwatering can cuase a slew of problems! Death.

Maybe you should come up with a good soiless mix for you new plants if you should decide to buy, and use it.The container forums is a good place to start for help and the understanding of how soils work. You need one that stays evenly moist, drains fast, and allows good air exchage in the root zone. This is a must, especially for plants indoors in winter.

Start there.

The soil is the most important thing. Then follow menthas suggestions on location.
Someon eelse can continue to share ideas with you. This is just a start..k..Goodluck..:-)

It sounds like you have may have two problems, the soil is either too heavy or you over water and, you don't have enough light. Let's discuss light first. You could either move them to a better lighed area like a southern window or supplement their light. I would suggest investing in growing lights now before you need them and have them set up for the time when the plants need to come in. The rubber tree should be turned about twice a week, at least, some people do it daily, even twice daily, but I find twice a week usually sufficient, otherwise it will grow at a funny angle. How tall is it? Do you think a stake will help it?

Now the next question...What kind of soil do you use? If your Scheff takes two weeks to dry out, it may be over potted or have a heavy soil, which may mean root rot.

I'd suggest surgery, compose a light airy mix of soil then unpot every thing and check the roots, cut off any brown and mushy parts and cut just into the white healthy roots. Now here is the hard part, leave your plant to sit and let the roots dry for a day, then pot up in a new mix. This is also a good time to look for root pests since you mentioned mealies. Check to see if the pots are too big for the root mass, they should be no bigger than an inch on either side for all plants, but the very small and very large ones.

I hope this is enough to start on, by winter you should be set up for the migration into the house. Good luck :)

Hmmmmm well this may sound dumb but I guess I didn't think the soil mattered much. I just take them out of the black plastic thing, stick them in the new pot and put potting soil in to fill it in. Miracle grow potting soil usually. I do fertilize some of my plants with miracle grow but not all and usually not much. When I was fertilizing all of them once a week or so they all started doing really bad so i figured they don't want food, just water. well and light.
Ok quick questions....do rubber plants like to be watered a lot? I forget to water it twice a week but always do once a week. Do they like fertilizer?
Do Sheffeleras like small pots? I have 2. 1 is not growing much at all and is in a 10" ceramic pot. The other 1 I thought was dead...stuck it on the patio and within 3 weeks a new baby sprouted and that baby is what I have now. It's full, 3 feet high and looks good it's just not growing anymore. It's in a pot about 12".

The soil is most important of all factors of growing plants. If you grow in poor soil, you get poor results. No offense but miracle grow soil is horrible. Some people can grow in the stuff, but most can't. I know they make really good fertilizers, but their soils really need work to even be sufficient for houseplants, much less excellent. Might I direct you to Al's soil discussion? There is a wealth of information there.

Do you have pictures of your plants? I'm not going to give suggestions on pot size without knowing what the roots look like, you're kind of stuck until you remove them and take a look. Anyone else who would recommend a pot size without knowing what the roots look like really doesn't know houseplants.

{{gwi:103072}}

Here's something for that special some one who kills every plant you give them.....I use to be that person.

Pothos

Never

Dies